Behind the Carrie remake

David Konow, 30th March 2012

A while back I read something about Carrie being rebooted, but the story had already been remade for television and the stage, so I didn’t pay much attention to the report.

I simply figured like a lot of remakes, the latest initiative probably wouldn’t get all that far. However, the reboot is apparently moving forward, with Kimberly Pierce, director of Boys Don’t Cry, and Chloe Moretz, star of Kick-Ass, Hugo and the upcoming Dark Shadows, being offered the lead.

As readers of this know, I’m really tired of the endless horror remakes that are glutting the world, and the original Carrie still has a special place in my heart, as do many of the classic horror films I’ve loved growing up. Being a kid who didn’t fit in at a young age myself, I completely understood Carrie’s plight where she had nowhere safe or comfortable to go, especially with her wacko, holy-roller mother.

Many of Stephen King’s stories have been called "revenge of the nerds," where someone who doesn’t fit in gets revenge against bullies, and in a day and age where there’s more public attention on bullying than ever, Carrie is a story that holds up well today.

Brian DePalma did a masterful job directing Carrie, and it had a great cast with Sissy Spacek, Piper Laurie, William Katt, John Travolta, Nancy Allen, and more great actors who became stars from the film. Still, according to Deadline, Moretz is indeed in the running to play Carrie in the remake, although Dakota Fanning was also apparently being considered, an obvious first choice. (According to Den of Geek, Julianne Moore and Jodie Foster are being considered to play Carrie’s mother).

As with many remakes in the pipeline, director Pierce absolutely has her work cut out for her. Yes, bullying is in the public consciousness, and Carrie sends a strong message against it, but the first film still does that job well, plus DePalma had a great idea with saving the biggest scare for last.

George Lucas told Premiere he thought that was a genius move, because people waiting outside the theater would hear the audience screaming, then a minute later the theater would let out, leaving everyone on line wondering what they should brace themselves for at the end.

Also, good luck making the bucket of blood segment as suspenseful, if not more, than the original. (This was DePalma using the Hitchcock suspense theory of the bomb under the table brilliantly, except here the bomb was up in the rafters).

Can a new Carrie do justice to the original and have something important to say today? With the wheels in motion on this one, we’ll find out soon enough.